Heart of Ice
by Rika-chi
Summary: Yukimura's cousin once loved tennis, but now she doesn't play it. Will they be able to heal the wound in her heart and get her to play tennis again? NiouXOc and MaruiXOc.
1. The New Girl

Heyy everyone this is my second story, but my very first PoT story so if there are any mistakes please don't hesitate to tell me.

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Singing'**_

'Flashbacks'

Disclaimer: Just to let everyone know, all PoT characters belong to Konomi Takeshi

Heart of Ice

Chapter 1

Maiko PoV

As I walked into my new school, to my left I heard familiar sounds of tennis balls banging on the racquets. I avoided the tennis courts and headed towards the office to get my schedule, but unfortunately I got lost as I never had a good sense of direction.

Normal PoV

As Maiko turned a corner, she knocked into someone and fell back. "Oww" she mumbled as she lifted her eyelids. When she opened her eyes she was kinda surprised to see a silvered hair boy. _He looks the same age as me_, she thought. Niou examined the girl that just knocked into him. He looked at her black hair, slightly rounded glasses and well proportioned body. _She would look prettier without her glasses._ "Are you new?" he asked.

"Yeah" she replied casually

"Hn" he smirked, "You should watch where you going next time, unless you're blind!"

Maiko twitched at this statement "I am not blind, you donkey!"

"You will never get a boyfriend if you talk like that!" He walked past her and went up the stairs.

_Who is that guy, he just ruined my first day at school, I hope I don't end up in the same class as him._

After 20 minutes, Maiko finally found the office, got her schedule and was now headed for class. She found her classroom and opened the door. When she walked in, she saw the person who she didn't wish to see. _Why am I stuck with him of all people?_

"Please introduce yourself" the teacher told her politely

"Watashi wa Maiko, yoroshiku"

"Alright, does anyone have any questions?" the teacher asked the class. Nearly the whole class raised their hands. "Ok, Kazuma-kun" the brown haired boy stood up" Do you have a boyfriend?"

"No"

"Where did you come from?"

"England"

"Do you speak English there?"

"Yes" _Wow these people ask obvious questions_.

"What's your favourite sport?"

" ."

"Alright class save your questions for later. Lets' see… you may sit in the desk next to Niou"

All the female population glared at her. "Who's Niou?" he asked dumbly.

"Niou-kun please raise your hand" the silver haired boy raised his hand and smirked. Maiko rolled her eyes as she went to sit in her desk next to Niou.

~-~-~-~-~

Break time…

Three girls walked up to Maiko while she was eating peacefully in the cafeteria. "Niou-kun is **mine**, don't you dare touch him!!" shouted Rima.

"I wouldn't even if you asked me to" replied Maiko in a bored and irritated way.

"Don't get ahead of yourself!" the other girl came forward.

"I can do whatever I want; I don't need you stupid fan girls to order me around."

Rima went forward and tried to slap Maiko, but she stopped her immediately by grabbing her wrist and twisting it slightly. This caused everyone in the cafeteria to stare at them. She was really pissed off, she glared at the three fan girls as she took her plate and left.

Maiko decided to cool off a bit on the rooftop. She took out her i-pod and plugged the earphones into her ears. She took off her glassed and pulled out her hair band that kept her hair up in a ponytail. She started to sing along to the music started playing. Her long black hair fluttered in the wind and a single drop of tear rolled down her cheeks.

_**I trembled like a child  
gathering the roses  
we sang for the hope  
your very voice is in my heartbeat  
sweeter than my dream  
we were there, in everlasting bloom**_

The tennis regulars opened the door and was surprised to see the girl standing there, but they decided to keep quiet and listen to her beautiful singing.

_**R**__**oses die,  
the secret is inside the pain  
winds are high up on the hill  
I cannot hear you  
come and hold me close  
I'm shivering cold in the heart of rain  
darkness falls, I'm calling for the dawn**_

_**S**__**ilver dishes for the memories,  
for the days gone by  
singing for the promises**__**…**_  
another tear rolled down hr cheek, she opened her eyes to see the blurry figures standing in front of her.

They were speechless"Err"

Now she was annoyed "What do you want?" she asked impatiently.

"Never thought you could sing" Niou spoke up.

"You never asked"

"Niou, do you know this girl?" asked Yagyuu

"Classmate"

"I see"

Yagyuu introduced himself to Maiko followed by the rest of the regulars.

"Akaya?"

"Misao?"

"Yeah"

"Ehh!! Long time no see, what are you doing in Japan?"

"I just started school here today"

~-~-~-~-~

After the bell rang, they went to their next classes. "Do you know Akaya?" asked Niou.

"What about it?" she asked.

"I was just curious why he called you Misao"

"Mind your own business"

"Why did you put your glasses back on? You looked so cute without them!" Niou commented.

Maiko blushed slightly, but hid it away before anyone saw it

~-~-~-~-~

After school…

Maiko met up with Kirihara who was with the other tennis regulars. "Do you have practise now?" she asked.

"No, we going to visit the buchou" replied Kirihara.

"Why?"

"He's in hospital"

"…I see" she was slightly hesitant.

"So are you going to join the tennis club?" he asked.

"No" Her emerald green reflected something of sadness.

~-~-~-~-~

"So Akaya, tell us what's your relationship with her?" asked Marui.

"We're childhood friends, but she moved to America when she was eight"

"Is that all?"

"She used to play tennis, but I don't know what happened to her while she was in America. She changed a lot, she used to kind, cheerful and strong, but just now when I asked her if she was going to join the tennis club, and she looked s if she was going to break"

"Is she any good at tennis?" Niou asked.

"She's strong; I've never even gotten a point from her before"

"WHAT?!"

Please review!! If you like it then I might carry on, but if no one is interested then I'll stop.


	2. Her Past

Hi everyone!! Plz review, i love reading other people's thoughts on this, anything is welcome

Oh, and i shall not be upduting very frequently until the end of novemer because i have exams, but i might still update, depends on how busy i am.

Hope like this chapter

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Singing'**_

'Flashbacks'

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PoT

_

* * *

_

Previously

"_She used to play tennis, but I don't know what happened to her while she was in America. Se changed a lot, she was kind, cheerful and strong, but just now when I asked her if she was going to join the tennis club, she looked s if she was going to break"_

"_Is she any good at tennis?" Niou asked._

"_She's strong, I've never even gotten a point from her before"_

"_WHAT?!"_

* * *

Chapter 2

"Hey!" greeted Marui.

"Here you are"

"We brought you something" Marui held up a box.

"I apologise for bringing such a huge crowd" Yagyuu apologised.

"How's it going?" asked Yukimura.

"100% problem free" they answered.

While Yagyuu informed Yukimura on the recent tennis matches, Marui got excited and opened the box that he brought. "Can I eat this?"

"Ah! You opened the gift for the captain!" Niou scolded and pointed at Marui.

"It's okay, I'm glad to see everyone's doing fine"

"It feels lonely practicing without you after all" Yanagi cut in.

"Come back soon, then we can play tennis together"

~-~-~-~-~

Maiko came through the door. Yukimura was surprised to see her "Misao?" she ran up to him and hugged him. "Gomen ne, I never contacted you for the past two years!"

"It's fine, when did you come back?" asked Yukimura.

"Last week." She looked down. "I heard that you were in hospital so I came to visit you"

"So are you attending Rikkai?"

"You too?" she processed what happened. "So the person Akaya, Niou and the rest wanted to come and visit was you?"

"Ah, so you've already met them!"

"Yeah, especially that annoying Niou guy who's in my class"

Yukimura giggled a bit and the turned serious "do you want to pay tennis again?" he asked gently.

Maiko was slightly shaking and a tear rolled down her cheeks, "I want to, but I'm scared th-that the same th-thing might happen again" she choked out the last words.

Yukimura wrapped his arms around her, "Nobody blames you, that was an accident, it wasn't your fault"

~-~-~-~-~

After a week, at school

Maiko opened the classroom door and walked in, her black hair was tied in a messy bun and she had her glasses on, she sat in her desk quietly and took out a book and started to read. She was so absorbed in the book that she never noticed Niou coming in and sitting next to her.

The teacher walked in and she put her book away. Everyone got to their desks and greeted the teacher. The firs lesson was English, it was too easy for her, they were learning the basics parts of speech. Maiko stared out the window at the tennis courts_. _'It's all your fault, if you never played that stupid match Mio wouldn't have to die. Why didn't you disappear instead?! Her father slapped her'

"Maiko"

She got interrupted in her thoughts, "Is my class that boring for you not to pay attention?!" the teacher asked. "Come and write the answers on the board!"

Maiko stood up and walked up to the board and she wrote the answers on the board quickly and swiftly "May I sit down now?" the teacher was speechless. "y-yeah"

~-~-~-~-~

"Neh, Akaya told me that you play tennis"

"It's none of your business!"

"Do you like tennis?"

"I **hate** it!"

He ignored her "Are you any good?"

"Not at all" she replied, angrily and walked away

'_Hmm, she's definitely different from other girls. All the other girls would just squeal and say that they love tennis even if they didn't like it.'_

~-~-~-~-~

Break time…

Today, Maiko didn't even bother to go to the cafeteria; instead she went to her locker and found a letter threatening her to stay away from Niou. _'What's so great about that guy anyway?'_ She decided to ignore the letter and carry on as usual. Unfortunately, when she went to the bathrooms, Rima and the two other girls were standing there. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from **my **Niou-sama?"

"I did, he's the one who talked to me, I'm not the one who spoke to him first."

"Shut up!" Rima grabbed her hair and the other two girls poured dirty water over her. They also tied her up and started kicking her, but Maiko did not scream or cry which made the fangirls even angrier. Rima undid Maiko's bun and took a pair of scissors and snipped her hair off. "Now stay away from Niou-sama unless you want to suffer worse" The three fangirls laughed loudly and left.

The bell rang, Maiko tried to get up, but her ankle was injured and her hands were tied up. She barely untied the ropes and somehow made her way out the bathroom. She fell back and leaned on the walls of the passage. 'The final match was against a very strong high school. Misao had led the team to the nationals twice. This time her opponent was the heir to a very wealthy company, the Black Orders whose job was to assassinate people, they would use money to get themselves fame, if anyone entered a competition, they would pay the judges to let them win, but tennis was different. Everyone was watching and the referee can't judge unfairly because if they hit out, it's out. Misao had led St. Mary's to the second victory, despite being in an elementary school. What happened was something that nobody had expected, one day when the two were walking home from school, they got kidnapped. They were held hostage because their parents were very rich, but the twins' father did not want to pay up so they killed Mio as a warning to kill the other one if they didn't pay. There was blood everywhere "Mio!" Misao screamed as tears ran down her face. The mother had secretly payed them the money and saved Misao. Then later they found out that the people who killed Mio were from the Black Orders. Not long after, her mother fell ill and eventually passed away. Her mother never blamed her for Mio being killed, but the father was different. He slapped her, _. _'It's all your fault, if you never played that stupid match Mio wouldn't have to die. Why didn't you disappear instead?!, the father shouted angrily. "If you payed up back then, then Mio wouldn't have to die"

"Are you trying to place the blame on me? He slapped her again. He found another women and went off with her leaving Misao all alone. ,_"Mio, Okaa-san" Please help me_. She cried like there was no tomorrow.

~-~-~-~-~

When Maiko woke up, she saw the eight regulars standing in front of her. Her hair was short and messy. "Sei-chan? Akaya?" she sat up "What am I doing here?"

"Calm down, you just fainted in the passage earlier and Niou found you and brought you to the Nurse office, the nurse already treated your cuts and bruises." Kirihara explained.

"I see"

"Misao, who did this to you?" asked Yukimura.

"No one, I jest fell, that's all" she put on a fake smile.

"That's not going to work, you better tell us who it is" ordered Niou.

"I'm telling you that I just fell"

Niou grabbed her wrist "You can't get that sort of injury from falling"

"Let go, it's none of your business, stop sticking your nose into my problems!"

","

Yukimura went up to Maiko and spoke to her gently, "Misao, I know that you don't trust anyone, but please let us know, we don't want this to happen to anyone else"

"… Niou's fangirls" she mumbled.

"Huh?" all the other regulars ere confused.

She pointed at Niou, "It's all because you went and spoke to me, and if you never spoke to me then those brutal and jealous fangirls wouldn't have done that!"

","

"Do you get it now?"

"It's not my fault!" he tried to defend himself.

"Yeah whatever, just stay away from me!"

The rest of the regulars just stared in amusement.

Then something just popped up in her head, "Sei-chan, what are you doing out of hospital?"

All heads turned to Yukimura "**SEI-CHAN**?"

"Ah, the operation was successful" he smiled.

"Really?!" she was really happy.

"Yeah, now I can play tennis again." Suddenly the room temperature dropped by several degrees and there was a deadly aura surrounding Maiko. "Marui was the one to break the awkward silence. "ne Maiko-chan, why do Akaya and Mura buchou call you Miaso"

", "

"Sorry, forget it"

"No, it's fine. I'll tell you, my real name is Takeuchi Misao, but I didn't like my father's surname so I took my mother's which is Tsubaki and I just changed my name to Maiko to match it"

"Oh"

"I don't mind if you call me Misao"

"Misao, I want you to join the boys' tennis club" Yukimura voiced his opinion.

"Yadda, I don't even play tennis anymore!! You can't force me to." She countered.

"You love tennis don't you?"

"No, I hate it! It stole every thing from me"

"Don't cling on to the past!"

"I am not!"

"Then why don't you play"

"… Because I hate it?"

"That' a lie isn't it?"

The rest of the regulars just stared in amazement and sweat dropped at their childish behaviour.

"How 'bout this, lets play a match. If I win you join the club"

"That's unfair, I haven't played in over two years"

"If you don't play, then it counts as you loss"

"Fine then if I win, I want a years worth of pocky!"

"Fine!"

* * *

nagozualdean- thanks, i am so happy that someone reviewed!!

A/N: Thank you to all those who read this chapter, please review and tell me what you think about this chapter!


	3. Match

Hi everyone!! Thanks to all who read the story and special thanks to **nagozualdean** and** Ice-creamy-life** for reviewing. As a reward, I have the third chapter, It's so difficult to find time to update due to all these exams and all.

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Singing'**_

'Flashbacks'

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PoT

_

* * *

_

Previously

"_Then why don't you play"_

"… _Because I hate it?"_

"_That' a lie isn't it?"_

_The rest of the regulars just stared in amazement and sweat dropped at their childish behaviour._

"_How 'bout this, lets play a match. If I win you join the club"_

"_That's unfair, I haven't played in over two years_

"_If you don't play, then it counts as you loss"_

"_Fine then if I win, I want a years worth of pocky!" _

"_Fine!"_

* * *

Chapter 3

The two stood on the tennis court while the others watched them. "You can serve first" she offered.

"No, you serve first"

"If I say you serve, then you serve!"

"Who would want to serve first if they knew that you have one hundred percent in winning if you let your opponent serve first?!"

"That was a long time ago, I haven't touched a racquet for the past two years"

"You're holding one now!"

Misao sighed, "Let's just toss" she spun the racquet, "Which?"

"Smooth" the racquet landed on rough. Yukimura smiled.

"Che" she went to the service line and served, but unfortunately it hit the net. She served again and it hit the net again. "Double fault, love-fifteen."

"Akaya, did you really not get a point from her?"

"Yeah"

"Then what is that?" asked Niou.

Misao had served again, but this time instead of hitting the net it went out.

"Love- thirty"

"Love- forty"

"Game, 1-0"

This time Yukimura served and she hit it back straight into the net again. He served again and she managed to return it properly this time. After losing the second game, she finally picked it up again. She served normally, but it was very fast which Yukimura returned, but the ball went straight out. "fifteen- love"

Chatters were heard from the regulars. "No way, Mura buchou missed"

As the game went on, Misao gained back the feelings that she missed for over two years, the thrills, enjoyment and fun. The scores were now even with four all.

"Is this for real?"

"No one has ever kept up with the buchou before!"

"Did you hear that Sei-chan?" she smirked.

"Yeah"

It was now the ninth game, Misao served again.

Niou was observing very closely, after all he was a trickster known for his observation skills. He saw that as the game went by, she became less hesitant and was starting to enjoy it, but something in her eyes told him that something was wrong. _'What was it? Loneliness, sadness?_ Game Misao, six games all tie-break. She was feeling extremely tired, she took the water bottle and poured some water on her face and shook her head.

"Sei-chan, when are you going to get serious?"

"When you get serious"

"Hn"

Misao switched her racquet from her right to her left hand. "Bring it on!" she called out. "No way, left handed?" someone shouted out.

Yukimura smirked "Finally serious?"

"Maybe, and you? When are you going to use _that!_"

"Are you joking? You're the only on that the Yips doesn't work on."

Yukimura served and she hit it the ball glided across the net and disappeared and appeared back on her own side again. "First song Tenshi no Tsubasa"

"What was that?" asked Marui.

"Misao is finally serious" said Kirihara.

"Do you know what happened?" he asked Kirihara.

"I don't really know how it works but, Tenshi no Tsubasa glides across the net and drops down and the instant it reaches the ground, it rolls around the pole and lads back on her side again." Kirihara explained.

Finally, it was Misao's match point; they hit the ball back and fourth, rallying for over ten minutes for one point. Then suddenly her arm started hurting, the wound she had on her left arm had opened again. This was one of the reasons why she did not want to use her lest hand. She missed the ball and the game was won by Yukimura. They both went to the net and shook hands. She tried to hide her injury, but unfortunately, the blood stained the sleeve of her jacket. Niou who saw this quickly went up to her, grabbed her right arm and took her to the nurse office again.

"Why are you so reckless?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're injured right?"

"Yeah"

"How on Earth can you play with an injured ankle and arm?"

Niou disinfected the wound and took a bandage to wrap up her arm and ankle.

"… Thank you"

He smiled, "No prob."

"."

"Just now, when you were playing, you looked like you were having fun."

", "

"I want to know why you stopped playing tennis"

She didn't want to tell him. She looked slightly uncomfortable to tell him so he stopped questioning her.

"You know, if you weren't injured I might do it with you now"

Misao blushed different shades of pink and threw a pillow at him, "Perv."

He laughed "I was just joking"

"Of course you were"

Misao took a pair scissors from her bag and started cutting her hair

"Oi, what are you doing?!" he asked.

"Just trimming my hair, those fans of yours are seriously causing a lot of trouble .Ya know normally hair is a girls' life and if they do that to anybody else, they might just end up committing suicide."

"You're going to commit suicide?"

Misao hits him over the head "Stop jumping to conclusions"

"Oww" he smirked_ 'She is really unpredictable, she got over the bullying as if it was nothing while others shut themselves in their rooms for months'_

~-~-~-~-~

As promised, Misao joined the club. The bad part about it was that she had to do the job of a manager and do the same amount of practice as the regulars.

50 laps around the court now, then after that, do 100 swings finish it in 30 minutes. Misao followed the training menu before everyone else and then she went to get drinks for everyone.

'_As I thought, she's a very responsible person '_thought Niou.

"Ne, Mura buchou and Misao-chan are you two going out?"

Niiou tensed up when Marui asked the question. The two people in question just stared at each other and started laughing.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well you two are close with each other and some times you fight like a couple"

They started laughing even harder and Misao waved her hand, "Sei-chan is my cousin"

Niou felt relieved yet he didn't know why.

* * *

**Replying to those who reviewed!!**

**nagozualdean~ Me too, Rikkai is the best!! Well... I sorta have a problem, I got a challenge from my friend to make Sanada giggle which going to be a bit hard.**

**Ice-creamy-life~ Thanks, glad you liked it. I don't think I could make her be with anyone else aside from him.**

Thank you for reading!! Please review!!


	4. Devil Coach

Thanks to all the people who read the last chapter. Big thank you's to everyone who enjoyed reading it. 'Hands out cookies to people who reviewed.' I only have one more week of exams, after that, I might be able to update more often.

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Singing'**_

'Flashbacks'

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PoT

_

* * *

_

Previously

"_Ne, Mura buchou and Misao-chan are you two going out?"_

_Niiou tensed up when Marui asked the question. The two people in question just stared at each other and started laughing._

"_What makes you think that?"_

"_Well you two are close with each other and some times you fight like a couple"_

_They started laughing even harder and Misao waved her hand,"Sei-chan is my cousin"_

_Niou felt relieved yet he didn't know why._

* * *

Chapter 4

The alarm clock rang loudly as Misao ran her hands along the table in attempt to switch the annoying clock off, why? You ask, well that's because she had morning practice. She grumbled as she got out of bed, took a quick shower and then made a sandwich which she ate on her way to school. Today, she didn't wear her fake glasses 'cause there was no point in wearing them anymore.

When she went to the tennis courts, she saw that most of the regulars were already practicing. "Misao, you're late" Sanada called out.

"Gomen, I overslept"

"30 laps"

"Ehh! Why?"

"50 laps"

"Why?!"

"Because you're late"

"Che"

While Misao was running her laps, she spotted Niou who finally arrived. As expected, he also received laps. The two were running their final lap together. Yukimura came up to Misao when she was drinking her water and asked her to prepare a training menu for the rest of the club. What he didn't notice was the sadistic smirk she had on for a second.

"All right, everyone gather here!" Yukimura called. When everyone came and got into a line he announced. "Today we're going to follow Misao's training menu instead of Renji's"

"Yay, we won't have to suffer Yanagi's horrid training menu" someone whispered. Yanagi was kinda interested, Marui was chewing his usual bubblegum, Niou just smirked, Yagyuu didn't react and Kirihara's face went pale. "YADDA" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Everyone turned to look at him. "Is there something wrong?" asked Yukimura.

"Please, I'll even do twice of the usual training, just don't let Misao coach."

In the end Kirihara's wish didn't come true instead they followed Misao's training. First off they doubled the weights they had on and then they ran 30 laps as warm up. After they finished there laps which they had to complete in 15 minutes, they had to do 50 squats, 100 push- ups, 100 sit- ups, ankle stretch 50 times on each foot, ankle turn 50 times on each foot, and finally, they played matches in their tired bodies. By the end of morning practice, everyone had already regretted letting her train them.

The bell rang and it was finally start of school. Most people barely had the energy to walk to class.

"You are really a demon!" Niou stated.

She smiled in a innocent way "You should be glad I only gave you guys half the amount my old team did"

"Your old team?"

"No, nothing. I'm just saying you should be glad that I did the same training as you guys"

"How do you even survive?"

"Who knows"

~-~-~-~-~

The day went by fairly quickly. Then after school they had afternoon practice, once again they followed Misao's training for the second time, some had even ended up lying on the court for half an hour before changing and going home. Niou and Marui who were the last ones to leave had to lock up. When they were leaving, they heard sounds of tennis ball hitting the wall by the street tennis courts and decided to go and take a look. They were surprised to see Misao there. She was hitting the ball repeatedly, faster and harder each time and soon she added another two balls in the process, but then suddenly one of the balls hit her right arm where she still had a bruise and she yelped in pain as the other two balls followed and hit her left leg and the other grazed her shoulder when she fell. She held back her tears and picked up the ball and started hitting it again.

"Where does she get all her strength from?" asked Marui.

"dunno" Niou answered, eyes still fixed on Misao.

"She did the same amount of training as us and she's still practicing"

"Whatever, let's go home"

~-~-~-~-~

Misao decided to take a break and went to get a drink, but then she met a girl who was wearing a Rikkai Dai uniform holding a racquet and hit the ball repeatedly against the wall.

'_She's pretty good, her form is flawless and she has a pretty good sense'_ Misao thought to herself as she observed the brunette haired girl. The girl noticed Misao looking at her and stopped. Misao walked up to her and smiled, "You're good at tennis" she stated.

"Thank You"

"Do you attend Rikkai Dai? I've never seen you before"

"I'm starting tomorrow"

"I see, which year?"

"Third"

"That's the same as me"

"Really?

"The truth is I also only started two weeks ago"

"I'm so glad, I was kinda nervous about going to a new school"

"What's your name?"

"Zaizen Kiri"

"Mine's Misao, but at school everyone calls me Maiko"

"Then do you play tennis as well?"

"Yeah"

"Please keep the fact that I play tennis a secret"

"… okay"

She smiled again. "Thank you"

Kiri looked at her watch, "Oh no! I gotta go home!" and she starts running, "See you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, hope we're in the same class!"

~-~-~-~-~

The next day at school…

Kiri PoV

This is my first day at Rikkai, I'm so nervous. Yesterday I met Maiko- chan, she said that she was from Rikkai and she seemed pretty nice. I hope everyone's like her. I got my schedule from the office and headed for my class. When I turned a corner, someone came rushing in my direction and was headed straight for me, but I luckily managed to dodge him and he ran past me and turned his head around while still running. "Sorry, I don't wanna be late for class."he apologised. I watched as the red haired boy's figure faded in the distance.

After that, I found my classroom and went in and um… well let's see… I think I interrupted their class. The teacher turned around and looked at me. "Come in"

"Sorry, I got lost."

"It doesn't matter, it's your first day here!" she said politely. "Please introduce yourself"

"Zaizen Kiri, yoroshiku."

"Well we don't have time for questions so please ask her at break."

When I lifted my head I saw the same girl from yesterday. "You may go and sit in the desk behind Niou." The teacher informed me.

I don't know why, but for some reason I couldn't help, but feel people glaring at me. I looked at the teacher blankly.

"Oh right, Niou kun-please raise your hand" I walked towards my desk and I passed Misao- chan's desk and said hi to her in which she smiled and said hi back.

* * *

_Replying to reviews:_

**Ice-creamy-life~ Thanx! I got the idea from other fics, I think it's funny when they find out a secret.**

**nagozualdean~ I also love Yukimura and Marui from Rikkai and thanx for supporting me!!**

**PoTFan!!!!!~ Thank you so much for reading an reviewing this fic  
**

A/N: How was it? Sorry if I have any grammar or spelling errors. Please review!!


	5. Zaizen Kiri

Thank you for reviewing!!! Well here's the next chapter

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Singing'**_

'Flashbacks'

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PoT

_

* * *

_

Previously

"_Zaizen Kiri, yoroshiku."_

"_Well we don't have time for questions so please ask her at break."_

_When I lifted my head I saw the same girl from yesterday. "You may go and sit in the desk behind Niou." The teacher informed me._

_I don't know why, but for some reason I couldn't help, but feel people glaring at me. I looked at the teacher blankly. _

"_Oh right, Niou kun-please raise your hand" I walked towards my desk and I passed Misao- chan's desk and said hi to her in which she smiled and said hi back._

* * *

Chapter 5

The first class was History, it was so boring that the whole class nearly fell asleep.

~-~-~-~-~

_Who is this girl, she seems to know seems interesting._

~-~-~-~-~

Breaktime…

Kiri was packing up her books when Misao walked towards her. "Hey" she greeted.

"Hi, I'm so glad we're in the same class"

"Yeah… wanna come eat lunch with us, I'll introduce my cousin to you."

"Sure"

~-~-~-~-~

I went with Misao -chan to the rooftop. She opened the door and there were a bunch of boys there. I saw this bright pinkish- reddish hair _'It's the boy from this morning'_ I just realised all eyes were now turned to me. "Err"

"Sup!" I heard Misao speak. "I brought a friend with me"

"Zaizen Kiri desu, yoroshiku" I managed to put it in a sentence.

"Hello"

"Yo"

"Nice to meet you"

Were the replies I received.

~-~-~-~-~

No way! it's the girl from this morning. I hope she isn't one of those rabbit fangirls although since I'm a genius it wouldn't be surprising if she was one.

~-~-~-~-~

"Well this is my cousin Yukimura Seichii" Misao started to introduce the regulars. "This is Sanada" she pointed at the black capped boy. "This is Akaya"

"Jakal"

"Yagyuu"

"Renji"

"Marui Bunta"

"and lastly, the annoying Niou" she finished.

"Hey, why am I the only one who gets insulted" Niou asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"I was just stating a fact" Misao replied calmly.

"What did you say?!"

"Whatever!"

"Ne, Kiri- chan do you play tennis?" Marui asked.

"… no" she answered.

Misao was slightly worried, as she saw that the look in her golden eyes is similar to her own. "Then how did you two meet?" Kirihara asked.

"…." Kiri did not know what to say. "Yesterday on my way home, I stoped by an ice-cream cart and coincidently Kiri was there. I later found out that she was going to attend this school!" Misao covered up for her. "Thanks" Kiri whispered to Misao quietly. "No prob, we're in the same boat after all" said Misao. Kiri was surprised at what she said. "Then do you want to come and watch our practice afterschool today?" Yukimura asked in a friendly manner. Kiri hesitated for a moment "…sure" she replied. The bell rang and so they had to go back to their own classes. While Misao, Kiri and Niou were walking towards their classroom "Kiri-chan, why don't you join the tennis club?", this question caused Misao and Kiri to tense up. No answer, the two girls remained quiet as the carried on walking. "Hey, are you two listening?"

"Didn't I tell you before, to mind your own business" Misao was annoyed.

"Why're you getting so angry?" he asked.

"It's none of your business" she replied once again.

"Ne, Kir-"he was cut off by Misao.

"Stop interfering with Kiri's business, she has her own reasons"

"Why are you defending her? I thought you two just met yesterday" Niou asked.

"We did, I just found you annoying, that's all"

"I'm not anoy-"

"STOP ARGUING" Kiri yelled at the top of her lungs. She then looked depressed, "It's not your fault"

~-~-~-~-~

After school…

"I'm going to go change, go to the courts so long!" Misao told Kiri.

"Sure"

Kiri went to the tennis courts; she sat on one of the benches on the side and waited for Misao. While she was there Marui came and sat next to her. "So, are you interested in tennis?" he asked while blowing a bubblegum. "I… don't know"

"It's fine, I'm sure you'll like it once you start playing it" he got up and went onto the courts when everybody came. "No way!!" Kirihara exclaimed.

"Marui- sempai came to practice earlier than everyone else today"

That's when Misao came and interrupted them. "Everyone 30 laps around the field!" she shouted.

When everyone started running, Misao went to chat to Kiri "I don't know what's preventing you from playing tennis, but I hope you can start tennis again"

"How did you know?"

"What are you talking about?"

".. I used to play tennis, I really loved the game" she spoke quietly, just loud enough for Misao to hear.

"I know, I saw it in your eyes yesterday"

"Then why did you help me keep the secret?"

"Maybe because we're similar" Kiri could feel the sadness in Misao's voice. Kiri honestly felt that she could trust her. "I have an older brother, he was known as a genius. We used to play doubles together all the time, but soon everyone realised that he was much better at singles than doubles and that's when I met Mai. Mai was the most cheerful girl I had ever met; we teamed up to play in double tournaments which we won all of them. We were the only undefeated team, but one of the teams that lost to us hated us and wanted revenge. So they entered in the following tournament, but kidnapped Mai just before the match with them. We had to forfeit the match and a few days later Mai was found dead." She was in tears now "I told myself that participating in matches will only make people suffer s-so I… will n-never play in any matches ever again" She managed to choke out the last words."So-Sorry" The rest of the people saw Kiri crying and stopped running and walked up to her. Misao hugged her "It's ok to cry, don't bear the pain all by yourself" By now Kiri's tears were dried out.

She released Kiri and she glared at all the spectators "Who told you to stop running?" her voice was as cold as ice. The others got scared and resumed their running aside from the regulars. "What are you guys still doing her, didn't I tell you to run?" she was now angry. "Misao, we don't know what happened while you went overseas, but I do know that you've changed" Kirihara started.

"So what? People change over time!"

"Please consider what you just said to Kiri-chan" Marui carried on.

"Don't bear the pain all by yourself?" she was stuttering.

"That's right" Yanagi confirmed. "We're friend's don't keep secrets all to yourself, Kiri and Misao as well" Jakal spoke up. "Just let go of the past, no one blames you guys for it" Yukimura added in.

Misao's vision became blurry. She wanted to cry, but was trying to hold it in as best she could. Niou who was next to her saw this and hugged her. She let her head be buried in his chest and let her tears out. "Arigato" she mumbled.

* * *

A/N: Kiri's past is revealed and Misao and Niou are finally making some progression. Next is Marui and Kiri. Please review!!! Plz any suggestions or criticism is appreciated.


	6. A Friend

Sorry, I didn't update often… I couldn't think of any ideas so I apologize in advance for the boring chapter!!

* * *

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Singing'**_

'Flashbacks'

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PoT

* * *

Previously

"So what? People change over time!"

"Please consider what you just said to Kiri-chan" Marui carried on.

"Don't bear the pain all by yourself?" she was stuttering.

"That's right" Yanagi confirmed. "We're friend's don't keep secrets all to yourself, Kiri and Misao as well" Jakal spoke up. "Just let go of the past, no one blames you guys for it" Yukimura added in.

Misao's vision became blurry. She wanted to cry, but was trying to hold it in as best she could. Niou who was next to her saw this and hugged her. She let her head be buried in his chest and let her tears out. "Arigato" she mumbled.

* * *

Chapter 6

"Ne, Kiri-chan" Misao started.

"Nani?" Kiri asked in a curios tone.

"Why don't we play some tennis later?"

"Eh?"

"I know that you said you don't play matches anymore because of that, so it's fine if you play with me"

"Ok, sure"

~-~-~-~-~

After school…

"Faster" Misao yelled. Kiri was standing beside her. "Aren't you being a little harsh on them?!" she asked while sweat dropping as they ran their 97th lap. "Hurry up!" Misao yelled while pulling Kiri by her arm. "We're running as well !" They both started running with everyone else. "Why am I running as well?"

"Isn't it more fun this way?!" Misao asked while running.

"I guess you're right" Kiri started laughing.

Marui came from behind and caught up with the two girls "Kiri- chan, I never knew you run so fast"

Soon after, Niou and Yagyuu followed and caught up as well. "Hm… never knew girls love to run so much" Niou said sarcastically.

"Why, thank you."

"I wasn't complimenting you"

She rolled her eyes. "I know that!! Don't treat me like one of your mad fan girls"

Everyone else sweat dropped at the fact that they argue even while running. Kiri smiled at the fact that everyone was having fun. After that, they did their usual training and played practice matches with each other.

~-~-~-~-~

After practice…

Kiri and Misao went to street tennis where they played against each other for fun. After a while they went shopping for tennis equipment and all sorts of other things. What they didn't know was that the other boy regulars were also there to hang out after practice and just happened to see the two girls. The thing was that they didn't decide to say hi, but rather chose to "stalk" the two. Of course Niou and Marui were interested and so was Kirihara, Yanagi claimed that he could collect his so called 'data'. Well Yaguu, Jakal and Sanada just tagged along for the sake of it. Yukimura of course just curious on where they were going. The girls actually noticed them, but instead they ignored them and carried on having their fun. First off, they went to a café and chatted for a while and then went to and arcade and played most of the games, then to clothing stores where they dressed up and tried on many different clothing then lastly they went to a music store. The shop was split into sections, one was where they sold CD's and the other was instruments. They first went to the instrument section.

"Do you play any instruments?" Misao asked.

"I used to play the flute and the violin"

"Really?!" she asked eagerly.

"Yeah" Kiri sweat dropped. "and you?" she asked.

"I play the piano, I learnt how to play the violin, but I quit after like 4 months"

"I see"

"Kiri- chan do you have a violin at home?"

"No, I used the school one before"

"Then flute?"

"I quit a long time ago"

"Ehh! Why did you quit?"

"I guess I only played it because she encouraged me to"

"Oh…" suddenly there was an awkward silence. Both of them were thinking of a way to break the silence.

"Let's go to the CD section" Kiri suggested and pulled Misao along. "Misao- chan, do you like singnig?"

"Yeah"

"Then we should go to a karaoke next time!!!"

"Sure" The girls laughed in satisfaction when they were leaving the store. _'She looks so cute when she laughs'_ thought a certain red haired boy. _'I've never seen her laugh before' _Niou felt happy for unknown reasons.

~-~-~-~-~

The next week… morning practice.

Everything carried on as usual, the only difference was that today Kiri had signed up for the tennis club on the conditions that she doesn't participate in any official matches unless she wants to. Like normal they had their harsh training that everyone had to do including the two girls. One thing they didn't know was that for the past week Misao and Kiri practiced after everyone else had left and in fact they had extra weights on at the moment yet nobody realised until…

"Oww" Kiri mumbled as she fell during one of the exercises. "You okay?" Mairui asked while blowing his bubblegum as usual. "Yeah, I'm fine" she replied. Misao ran to Kiri "You shouldn't push yourself"

"I know"

"I know I told you that Mai- chan would be happier if you carried on plying tennis, but I didn't mean for you to push yourself this hard!"

"…"

"You should take a rest"

"but…"

"If you want to carry on playing tennis for her sake then, you should focus on recovering for now. Start off slowly and then work your way up"

"Thank You"

"Marui- san!" Misao yelled to the person nearest to herself other than Kiri.

"Kiri seemed to have hurt her ankle when she fell earlier, could you please take her to the infirmary?"

"Sure" he agreed while blowing another bubble.

"I'm fi-" Kiri was cut off when Marui picked her up (bridal style).

"You're so stubborn; just let me take you to the infirmary"

Kiri struggled a bit "like I said, I'm fine!"

Marui rolled his eyes "I'm sure you are!" and he took her to the infirmary.

~-~-~-~-~

He placed her on the bed and looked around for the nurse. "Where is the nurse when you need her?!" Marui went to the drawer and took out some bandage and kneeled down in front of her and took off her shoe and noticed the ankle weights. "You had these weights on the whole time?" he carefully took off her socks and removed the weights. He gently rubbed her swollen ankle with an ointment and wrapped it with the bandage.

"There, it's done"

"Thanks"

"Don't worry about it" there was an awkward silence once again, Kiri felt uncomfortable due to the silence and tried to break it.

"Ne, why do you always chew on bubblegum?" Kiri asked curiously. "It gives me energy!" he replied.

She sweat dropped, "I see…"

Kiri felt nervous in the room until Marui broke the silence.

"Ne, I don't know what happened in the past, but what happened has happened. If you really love tennis then you should play it, don't let the past hold you back"

Kiri looked down at the floor and played with her fingers silently. Marui, who saw her hesitation, decided to give her time to think about it. He left the room and leaned on the door after sliding it closed. _'What was I thinking about? …I felt depressed when I saw her being unhappy '_

* * *

So, how was it? Please review!!!


	7. Exchange

Hi everyone!!! I hope everyone's looking forward to this New Year and that it runs smoothly for everyone. Anyway, I would appreciate reviews from anyone! Oh… and if you want a recap, go to chapter 6

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Singing'**_

'Flashbacks'

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PoT

* * *

Chapter 7

Morning practice…

"100 laps around the courts!!" shouted Misao.

"I think Mura-buchou made a mistake in leaving her in charge when he goes to the hospital," stated Kirihara.

"Yeah, I have to spend way more than before to buy enough snacks to keep me going," said Marui.

Kiri chuckled at Marui's statement. "She's even worse than Sanada, Yukimura and Renji's training altogether," commented Niou, "The only thing she makes us do is training."

What they didn't know was that Misao was running right behind them, her glasses glinting, a vein popped up her head, "You guys… 50 push- ups, 50 sit-ups and Niou, do 20 extra squats!!"

"Ehh!" they all complained except for Sanada, Renji and Yagyuu.

"If you complain, I'll double the training," she stated.

Everyone sweat dropped and carried on running. After completing the task Misao gave them, they had practice matches. "Renji and Akaya, court A. Jakal and Yagyuu, court B. Marui and Kiri, court C. Sanada and Niou will play doubles against me!" announced Misao.

Everyone was shocked with the pairings, "A girl can't possibly take on a guy, especially Maiko, she's underestimating them, there's no way she can beat Niou and Sanada together."

Misao's officially annoyed, "Chotto(1)…so you think girls can't beat boys? " There was a dark aura surrounding Misao, but nobody noticed except for the regulars and Kiri.

"There's no ways, don't think you're so great!" said the boy next to him, "Just because Yukimura-buchou allowed you to join doesn't mean we approve."

Misao smirked, "Why don't we play a match?"

"Ha, there's no ways you can win!" the boy shouted.

"Tekeda, stop cu-," Sanada tried stopping them.

Kiri is similar to Misao in the sense that they both dislike being underestimated so Kiri stoped Sanada. "Mi-chan, you do you mind?"

"No," came the obvious reply.

The two girls looked at the two boys, "Let's settle this in a match!"

They played doubles. Misao stood at the baseline and Kiri stood by the net. Misao served a normal serve, but it was too fast for the boys and so they missed it.

1-0

It was the boys turn to serve. The boys' serve was very slow, Kiri returned it quickly. The game progressed fairly quickly.

3-0

The boy served again and again, but they were all returned.

"What happened to all the bragging from earlier?"

"Ha…ha… ha." The boys were panting hard.

5 games to 0

"Kiri-chan, are you ready?" asked Misao.

She smiled, "Yeah."

"Those who challenge the Shinigami(2) shall never return to light," said Kiri.

"We reap those who lost their souls," said Misao.

"Remember that!!" Kiri and Misao said at the same time as they scored their final point.

6-0

Everyone was speechless. Surprisingly, Kirihara was the first to recover, "Have you two paired up before?"

The two girls looked at each other, "No, this is our first time."

"Then, how did you two come up with such a cool phrase?"

"We came up with it after practice; we helped each other with our own special moves. That's when we came up with the idea of the 'shinigami' so we agreed to only use it with the others' approval during doubles; it's a move for doubles."

The bell rang, signalling the start of school.

"Oh no, we lost track of time!!"

They rushed to the clubroom, got changed and hurried for class.

~-~-~-~-~

Of course, they were late. "Gomenasai(3), sensei, we had tennis practice."

Whispers erupted from the class. They sat down and began class. Niou was just being Niou, he secretly switched the whiteboard marker to permanent marker. Misao and Kiri had their heads on their desk and their eyes were closed, in other words, they were sleeping. The teacher saw Misao sleeping and so he threw the permanent marker at her which hit her on the head. Misao lifted her head, "Oww, that hurt," she mumbled.

"Maiko-san, is my class that boring?" asked the teacher.

Misao who was just as blunt as normal just honestly told the truth, "Yes, I don't understand Math… and I'm tired… I'll study at home…" she managed to say before dropping her head back on the table. The teacher also spotted Kiri sleeping, "Zaizen-san, please solve that equation."

Kiri, like Misao, lifted her head and answered which she got right. Niou smirked, _'they're so similar' _he thought.

~-~-~-~-~

After school…

"Kiri-chan, can I borrow your notes, I didn't understand anything."

"Just one problem, I fell asleep in class so I didn't take any notes"

Misao sweat dropped, "I see."

~-~-~-~-~

Afternoon practice…

Misao added 250 grams each of their wrist weights; they did the usual 30 laps as warm up. After they finished their laps which they had to complete in 15 minutes, they had to do 50 squats, 100 push- ups, 100 sit- ups, and ankle stretch 50 times on each foot and finally, they played matches in their worn bodies.

Everyone was dead- tired. Misao dismissed everyone. After everyone left, Misao locked up and was heading home until she heard the sound of tennis balls, she went to go look. She was surprised at what she saw and smiled.

Misao walked towards Kiri, "You completed it?"

"Yeah," she replied happily.

What they didn't know was that all the regulars were there, hiding in the bushes.

"Do you want to test it?" asked Misao.

"Sure"

Misao served normally and Kiri returned it. Misao hit it back again and she heard Kiri say, "Here I come!!"

Kiri smashed the ball, which looks like a normal smash, but when it reached the ground, it didn't rise. The ball flew across the court. The regulars just watched in amazement, "Wasn't that Tsubame Gaeshi?"

"The principle is the same, but she did it as a smash"

The regulars saw the look of discontent on Misao's face and wondered what's wrong.

"Kiri-chan, was that a doubles' move?" asked Misao.

Kiri nodded.

"Then you should only use it during doubles!" she yelled.

The regulars were surprised by her sudden outburst. "Show me your arm," said Misao.

"But…"

"Don't use these moves that will injure yourself," said Misao. Misao took Kiri's jacket off and examined her arm, she looked worried. "Sharing your pain with others helps you lessen the pain. Your elbow's just a bit swollen, it'll get better soon. Don't overuse it."

Misao went to her sports bag and took out some sort of ointment and a bandage. She applied some on and wrapped it with the bandage. She gave the ointment to Kiri, "Just apply it on after showering."

"Thank you"

Misao smiled, "No prob." She said, "I'll teach you a way to put as little strain on your elbow as possible."

She dragged Kiri onto the courts, but heard some rustling sound from one of the bushes.

"Who's there?"

The regulars fell out from behind and the girls just sweat drops. "Niou, please can you swap wrist weights with Kiri-chan."

Niou smirked, "On one condition."

"What is it?"

"Give me something I want"

"Which is?"

"I haven't decided yet."

Misao hesitated a little; it was risky to make a trade with the trickster, but it was for her friend's sake. "Okay, fine!"

Niou took off his wrist weights while Misao removed Kiri's. Niou handed Misao the weights. The instant he took the weights from Misao, his hands dropped to the ground. Misao just smiled and put the weights on Kiri.

"Niou, you'll wear Kiri's weights until her elbow recovers."

"You…"

The regulars just stared at Niou. "What are you doing?" they asked.

Niou just managed to place them into Marui's hands which also dropped to the ground.

"It's so HEAVY!!" Marui yelled at the top of his lungs.

The others just stared at Niou and Marui weirdly.

"Is this the reason why you wanted to swap the weights?!" asked Niou.

"Yeah, it puts too much strain on her injured elbow, but I couldn't give her mine because they're the same weight. So I thought that yours would do 'cuz it's half our weights."

The regulars' jaw dropped.

"So you two did the same training as us, but with double the weight?"

"Yeah," the two girls replied.

"NANI?!(4)"

"USO(5)"

**

* * *

**

A/N- Thanks for reading!! Please review; tell me what you thought about this chapter!!

Words that might help~

Chotto- wait a second or a while

Shinigami- Death God

Gomenasai- respectable of saying sorry

Nani- What

Uso- lies, also said when people don't believe what they hear


	8. Revenge, puri!

Next chapter up!

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Flashbacks**__**'**_

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PoT

* * *

Chapter 8

Morning practice is as harsh as usual; Misao was not in charge today because Yukimura was back. All of the members were very glad that he's not the same as his cousin. "20 laps around the court," ordered Yukimura.

Yukimura noticed that all the club members were running faster than before, except for one. After completing the task, they played practice matches. Yukimura was standing next to Misao and Sanada. "What happened while I was away?" asked Yukimura.

"What do you mean?" Misao asked back.

"Well, everyone runs faster than before and they seem to have more stamina," he explained.

"Well training pays off," she chuckled.

"I see," he said with a smile, "Then I should give them more laps."

Everyone who heard this jaw dropped and their eyes widened, "Ehh!?"

"You demon!!" yelled Niou.

Yukimura turned his head to the side to see Misao. "Is it just my imagination, or is he slower than before," asked Yukimura.

Misao, Kiri and the rest of the regulars were holding back the urge to laugh while Yukimura stared at them. Marui, Kirihara, Jakal, Kiri and Misao couldn't hold it back anymore and they burst out in laughter. The Trickster got pissed, '_I'm so going to get them back_.'

~-~-~-~-~

Niou passed a note to Misao that read…'Meet me on the rooftop during break.'

When the bell rang for break, Misao went to the rooftop and so did Niou. What they didn't know was that Yukimura, Yanagi and Kirihara saw them and followed after them to the rooftop.

"What's wrong?" asked Misao.

"You promised to give me something I want," he answered.

"Oh!! I remember now. So what do you want?" she asked.

Niou pretended to think about it for a while and then smirked, "I want…You."

Misao's cheeks heated up and she threw her bag at his face, "What are thinking, you idiot?!"

"What a violent girl!" mumbled Niou.

"What did you say?" she asked with a dark aura surrounding her.

"You agreed to give me what I want."

"I'm not an object!" she retorted.

"You never said it had to be an object," he corrected.

"Fine, anything aside from that," she agreed reluctantly.

"Then give me a kiss," he said.

"No!" she said stubbornly.

"You said _anything_ aside from you, so I want a kiss"

"No," she refused again.

"I'll give Kiri her wrist weights back, puri," he threatened.

Misao suddenly stopped, "Fine."

She walked closer to him and leaned forward…

~-~-~-~-~

Some of the tennis regulars watched them and listened carefully, they blushed when Niou stated that he wanted her, but let go of it when Misao refused.

"Why does she need to give him something?" asked Yukimura.

Yanagi then explained everything to Yukimura.

When Niou asked for a kiss Yukimura felt worried about his cousin._ 'Niou is a good person, but if Misa-chan falls for him she might never recover if she gets hurt again'_

~-~-~-~-~

Niou sat in class thinking about the incident…

"_**I'll give Kiri her wrist weights back, puri," he threatened.**_

_**Misao suddenly stopped, "Fine."**_

_**She walked closer to him and leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.**_

"_**I wanted one on the lips," he said.**_

"_**All you asked for was a kiss; you never said anything about that ,the trick you used on me is now used back at you," she explained with a smile.'**_

'_I feel a bit disappointed; she never thought that I would actually like her. She only thought of it as a dare, she never actually liked me. It's my own foolishness to think that she liked me'_

~-~-~-~-~

'_I can't believe it, out of all people, I just had to like that Trickster. The one which has no real feelings with any of the girls he's dated. What am I suppose to do? He doesn't take girls seriously.'_

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading once again, please tell me your thoughts on this chapter.


	9. Cultural festival

Here's the next chapter, please enjoy!!

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Flashbacks'**_

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PoT

* * *

_You may not love me today, _

_tomorrow, or ever, _

_but I will love you until it kills me, _

_and, even then, _

_you'll be in my heart._

* * *

Chapter 9

Today, the tennis club has Saturday practice. It was harsh as usual, even though they followed Yanagi's training menu. Apparently he adapted his training menu to Misao's. The sun was blazing hot so they decided to end practice early. They decided to go to a burger store to get some lunch. Misao's short black hair was tied into a pony tail even though it was so short that a few strands were hanging down. Marui was busy devouring huge amounts of ice-cream. Kirihara was just complaining. Sanada had he usual stoic face. Yukimura had a smile on his face. Kiri also tied her hair up to cool he neck down. Niou was too tired to do his usual trick on people, such as adding extra stuff into their meals or swapping them around. The National Tournament was coming up, but it was nearly impossible to practice in this weather.

They decided to resume tennis practice when it got cooler. Now, at five in the afternoon, they started practicing. Kiri played against Kirihara and she lost 6-2. Niou played against Yagyuu and he lost 7-6. Marui played against Yukimura and he lost 6-0. Jakal played against Yanagi and he lost 6-3. Misao played against Sanada and she lost 5-7.

After changing, the regulars all went home.

~-~-~-~-~

On Monday, the girls in the class were getting excited and anxious because of the upcoming cultural festival. Usually it was just normal events, but this year they're also going to be holding a beauty contest.

Three girls from each class has to enter, they must be nominated by the class. The three girls in Niou's class were Miyabi, Kiri and Kumiko. The girls in the class chose the dresses and did the make up for each person, Misao took care of the hairstyles and they looked gorgeous.

In the end however, the winner was a girl from the second year. Kiri looked around for Misao, but spotted Marui instead. She quickly caught up to him and asked him to go to their 'Sweets & Things cafe' which he gladly accepted. When they got there, the waiter and waitress were all dressed in Kimonos. Niou wore a deep blue colored yukata with silver-grey circles on them, Misao wore a crimson Kimono with golden-yellow flower patterns and a purple obi. Kiri asked Marui to take a seat and she quickly went to the changing rooms to get dressed as well.

In the afternoon, all the other tennis regulars went to 'Sweet and Things'. Yukimura chuckled when he saw a very annoyed Misao, a very bored Niou and Kiri who was trying to raise their spirits. Misao offered them some cake which Marui and Kirihara grabbed their slices the moment the plate came in contact with the table. Sanada didn't seem like the type that likes sweet, being him, he refused. Everyone else ate their pieces gratefully.

In the evening...

Everyone gathered outside for the last event which was the dance. Most of the students danced happily, they then swapped to another partner when the music changed. Misao stood at the side and watched her friends dance with a smile on their faces. Niou saw Misao standing on the side without a partner so he offered her a dance which she accepted gracefully. Niou stared at Misao carefully. Misao felt Niou's gaze upon her so she blushed unconciously. Niou smirked when he saw the blush appear on her face.

Yukimura saw Niou and Misao together, he smiled when he saw the gentle expression on Niou's face. It seems he worried for nothing_ 'he cares for her and he'll never do anything to hurt her'_ he thought to himself.

~-~-~-~-~

Kiri, Misao and a few other girls sat at the desk chatting about the Cultural festival from the previous day.

"He confessed to me after the dance," said the one girl.

"Really?!" the other girl squealed.

"Then what about you two?" they asked Kiri and Misao.

"Yeah," the other agreed, "Kiri-chan looked so pretty during the competition, I'm sure a lot of boys would be heads over heels for you!"

Kiri sweat dropped. "Nobody confessed to me," she said.

"Yeah, says the person whose locker was stuffed and over flooded with undying love letters," Misao stated sarcastically.

"What about you Maiko-chan?" she asked Misao.

"Nothing happened to me," she stated calmly.

A grin was plastered on the girls' faces

"I saw you dance with Niou, so what are your thoughts on dating a super popular guy?" she asked slyly.

"Yeah, tell us!" agreed Kiri.

"Nothing much," she lied to them.

Niou just happened to walk into the classroom and overheard their conversation. "What about me?!" he asked casually.

"Nothing!" they replied in unison.

~-~-~-~-~

The tennis regulars went to a nearby cafe after practice, Misao and Kiri tagged along as well. The steam that rose from the hot chocolate covered Misao's glasses. She got so annoyed with them so she took them off. Everyone at the table stared at Misao. "You have the same color eyes as Akaya, I always thought he was the only one with an unusual shade," stated Niou.

"You're right, it has a darker color than when her glasses are on," agreed Marui.

"When will you guys stop it?!" she half yelled.

"Gomen"

"Well they just find it unusual for you to take off your glasses," said Yukimura.

Niou studied Misao carefully. "Why don't you keep your glasses off?" he asked.

"Well I can't really see that well without them," she explained.

"You look much cuter without them though," he said again.

"Niou-sempai, your flirting ways won't work on her," said Kirihara, "Her heart is as cold and solid as ice."

Niou stared at his kohai and then back at Misao, his eyes softened. Everyone at the table except for Misao and Akaya noticed Niou's behaviour.

'_Akaya's wrong, I'm just another ordinary girl who had her heart melted by his spell'_

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the late update, school just started so I've been kinda busy. Anyways, how was it? Please review and tell me your thoughts and give me suggestions!


	10. Jealous

A/N: Yay, chapter 10 is out!! Thanks goes to **all** all the people whe read, reviewed, put it on favorites or alerts

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Flashbacks'**_

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PoT

* * *

Chapter 10

"Ne ne, did you hear about Niou-kun?" one of the girls secretly whispered.

"Yeah... I wish was the lucky person!" another girl squealed.

"I doubt they're going to be going out for long," she stated.

Rumours were spreading pretty fast around the school. The news about Niou Masaharu dating another girl is not an uncommon rumour, but he had never dated anyone for the past two months.

"I heard that it's Yumi from the class next door."

When Misao had entered the classroom, the first thing she heard was the rumour about Niou. She pretended that she couldn't care less and walked towards her desk, but deep down in her heart she felt a sting.

~-~-~-~-~

Niou stared at the black haired girl that just entered the classroom. He knew that she heard about the rumour and he observed carefully to see how she reacted, but to his disappointment her expression only showed surprise and nothing else.

Class flew by and then they were having lunch on the rooftop again, but two people weren't there; Yukimura and Niou.

All the regulars that were present at the time realised that Misao had been acting weirdly. She kept on sighing and she was more quiet than usual.

"Mi-chan," Kiri tried to get her attention by waving her hand, "If there is something wrong, you should tell us."

"...It's nothing."

"92% it's about Niou, isn't it?" Yanagi half stated and asked.

"...," she said nothing, but nodded lightly.

"Ehhhh!!" beamed Akaya, "Is it true?"

Akaya then received a glare from everyone else excluding Misao. Jackal stared at Misao for a while and then he tried to encourage her, "Don't worry, he just loves to flirt with girls, they'll probably soon."

"I don't want them to," she stated suddenly, "Niou looks happy with her and I... "

"You need to know him more, listen to him and you'll realise how he feels," said Marui.

"Thanks everyone!"

~-~-~-~-~

Things are easier said than done. During tennis practice, Yumi cheered the whole time.

"Gather," commanded Yukimura.

The club members immediately lined up in straight rows and the regulars stood at the front.

"As you all know, the nationals are starting this Saturday!" he looked at all the members, "We don't want to repeat what happened at the Kantou finals, train hard," he announced.

As the rest of the club members continued their usual practice, the regulars stayed in their position to listen to Yukimura and Sanada. Yukimura had also asked the two girls to stay.

"The mixed doubles are coming up soon, we need to form two double pairs before then, but we don't have a girls' tennis team and I would prefer someone who has experience in doubles to participate," he said, "If possible, I would like Kiri-chan and Mi-chan to participate, is that fine?"

"I don't really mind. Besides, I specialise in doubles," stated Misao.

"I... " Kiri trailed off.

Marui looked at the brunet girl, "You don't have to force yourself to participate in a match."

"No, I'll do it!" she said determined.

"Now we'll decide who will be paired with whom," Yukimura looked at Misao, "Mi-chan and Jackal against Marui and Kiri-chan."

The four said people entered the court and immediately started playing. They Kiri served first and Jackal returned it quite easily, Marui then hurriedly run towards the net and shot a stronger shot back and scored the first point. Kiri served again, this time she hit a twist serve which just missed Misao's face by a few millimetres. Kiri served for the third time and she hit another twist serve, but Jackal hit it back only to have Marui standing in position for his 'tightrope walking' which succeeded. Kiri served a normal speed shot and this was returned by Misao. "First song Tenshi no Tsubasa," she mumbled as the ball sped past the net, but it appeared back on her side of the court.

Niou and Yagyuu stood beside Yukimura and Sanada and were watching the game intently. "Buchou, is Misao's move for doubles?" asked Niou.

Yukimura smiled, "That's right, she and Mio invented it together. It was a near impossible to return move when."

"Was?" asked Niou curiously.

"Ah... Tenshi no Tsubasa was originally the second song, there's a move before this one, but only Mio can hit it."

"That explains why it has so many holes in the move... it's not complete."

Yukimura realised and remembered that Niou could see people's habits and weak points and this could help Misao because she has many weak points and bad habits.

"Was Misao and this Mio person strong together?" asked Niou.

"Well... I don't really remember, but I'm sure they could've beaten Marui and Jackal and maybe you and Yagyuu as well."

Niou whistled, "This Mio person must've been good; to be able to back up all of her bad habits."

"Yeah... that's probably why she was suited to play doubles with someone she trusts," stated Yukimura.

The game ended after a while with Kiri and Marui winning 6-2. Yukimura noted that Kiri and Marui are completely different, but they could still understand each other without talking. He decided to pair them together. "Niou, pair up with Mi-chan," ordered Yukimura.

"Hai," agreed Niou unenthusiastically.

"Marui and Jackal, you play against them," said Yukimura.

~-~-~-~-~

"Mi-chan," called Niou, "It seems we're paired together."

"Stop calling me that!" she sounded annoyed.

"Buchou and Kiri both call you that so why can't I?" asked Niou.

"They're close to me and you're not!" yelled Misao.

Even though she didn't notice, the words hit Niou like a bullet, "Do whatever you want!"

The game started and it was a disaster on Misao and Niou's side. They often knocked into each other, Misao served the ball and it hit Niou on the head. Misao was distracted throughout the whole match. The game ended with them not even scoring a point.

"Are you okay?" asked Niou, "You seem kind of distracted."

"It's none of your business!" she said angrily and walked away.

In the end Misao was paired with Yagyuu for the mixed doubles.

~-~-~-~-~

After practice, Niou was about to go home with Yumi, his new girlfriend. They walked past one of the walls for practicing tennis and Niou happened to see Misao still practising. He stopped in his tracks immediately.

"Niou-kun?"

"Sorry... I have someone I like and so I can't go out with you," apologised Niou.

The girl fake smiled even though it hurt,"It's fine, I knew this was going to happen anyways... Thanks for being honest with me. I'm she likes you too."

Niou walked towards the place where Misao was practising, but she never noticed his presence.

She had her eyes closed and she wasn't wearing her glasses. "I have to conquer my weak points," she told herself as she served another 5 balls. The balls hit the wall and bounced back in different directions. She managed to hit two of the five balls, one of the three other balls hit her on her right knee and one grazed her left cheek and the other just flew past.

Niou watched as the balls soared towards the girl, anyone could easily have dodged it, but she had her eyes shut. He saw the ball hit her, but she didn't even flinch.

"Oi," called Niou.

Misao looked at the source of her distraction. "What do you want?" she asked.

"Stop pushing yourself so hard," he said.

"I am not pushing myself!"

"Please..." Niou's voice softened.

Misao lost the will to argue against Niou, "Aren't you dating Yumi-chan... she'll get angry at you for making her wait so long?"

"We broke up," he said.

Misao's heart felt much lighter for some reason. Niou pulled her into his arms, "Idiot... don't forget that I'm here for you, stop trying to do everything by yourself."

"I... you," she mumbled, but Niou never heard her.

'_I wonder if buchou will allow me to be Misao's doubles partner'_

* * *

A/N: I hope everyone liked the end of this chapter... please review. I hope our coach doesn't kill us during tennis tomorrow, if I die, I won't be able to continue this story...lol


	11. Mixed Doubles

A/N: Sorry, I didn't have access to internet for a while... so I couldn't update. Anyways, thank you to those who read the previous chapter and to those who reviewed.

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Flashbacks'**_

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PoT

* * *

Chapter 11

The mixed doubles tournament is starting today, all the Rikkaidai regulars gathered to finalise their chosen doubles team. Yukimura read the list carefully.

"Marui and Kiri, you will be playing against Hyotei first doubles," said Yukimura.

"What about us?" asked Misao.

"You will be playing against Shitenhouji's second doubles," stated Yukimura, "Niou, you better not lose after asking to play with Mi-chan despite your lack of teamwork together."

"Don't worry buchou, we won't lose," said Niou.

Kiri and Marui played their match first and won easily. They then proceeded to face Seigaku, they had a pretty tough time when playing against them because Kikumaru kept on moving all over the place. The score ended with 7-5 in Rikkai's favour. This resulted in them playing against Ginka Chu, which they won easily. The next two matches were just like the previous ones... they completely scared their opponents one after another until they reached the finals.

Kiri stared in surprise at their opponents who stared back at her. Marui noticed the tention between them, but he couldn't do anything about it.

As the two double pairs stood in front of the net on opposite sides, Kiri broke the silence first.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Hikaru," said Kiri.

"Same here, I thought you quit tennis Onee-chan," stated Hikaru.

"He's your brother?" Marui asked in surprise.

"Yeah, my first doubles partner, the genius, Zaizen Hikaru," she replied without looking away from her brother.

"You left our school to go to that school?" he asked.

"You're more suited for playing singles, why are you here playing doubles with Chitose-chan?" she asked, ignoring his question.

They walked to their positions and took their stance. Marui served the ball which flew in Chitose's direction. She hit the ball back and made a return ace. Kiri looked at the ball that lay on the ground and then turned to look at Chitose.

"It looks like your Yips is gone now," Kiri said with a slight smile on her face.

"It's thanks to Dorobou no nii-chan!" she said.

"Huh?" Kiri questioned.

Marui served the ball, but Hikaru managed to return it. Kiri ran quickly towards the ball and hit a very strong shot. The match progressed very slowly, after what seemed like forever, Rikkaidai won the match 7 games to 6. Marui and Kiri won the first doubles section.

~-~-~-~-~

Niou and Misao walked onto the court, all the tennis regulars could see that they were very determined. They were completely different from the first time they teamed up. Misao and Niou knew each others' moves next moves without any signal. All the Rikkai Dai members stared in shock, surprise or amazement.

"No way!" yelled Akaya.

"They did so badly during the practice, what's going on?" asked Kiri.

"They're doing even better than a normal doubles team," stated Yagyuu.

"They are able to predict each others moves and let the balls fly past them because they believe that the other will hit it back. This double's pair is built upon trust," said Yanagi.

They won their matches one after another; none of the double's 2 teams could stand up to them.

~-~-~-~-~

They had Yakiniku to celebrate the victory of their doubles teams. Somehow, they ended up playing Truth or Dare at Niou's house, nobody remembered how. That's when everyone had the shock of their lives...

The bottle pointed towards Kiri after a very long spin.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," chose Kiri.

Misao smiled sadistically, "Are you going out with someone?"

Kiri suddenly blushed at the question. "...yes," she mumbled.

"I knew it!" Misao said cheerfully.

"Really?" asked Niou.

"Who's the lucky person?" asked Akaya.

"..."

"Its fine, leave her Akaya, you'll find out soon," said Misao.

Kiri spun the bottle and it pointed towards Niou.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," he replied casually.

This time, Kiri laughed evilly, "Mi-chan, payback time!" she said, "Handcuff yourself with Mi-chan."

"Ehh? Where am I going to get that?"

Suddenly Kiri brought out a perfectly new set of handcuffs.

Everyone sweat dropped _'Where the hell did she get that?'_

After forcing the two to be handcuffed together, Niou used his free hand to spin the bottle. The bottle spun for a while until it stopped, Niou smirked when he realised that it pointed towards the red haired boy.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Dare"

Niou quickly glanced at Misao who nodded, "I dare you to kiss the person you're dating."

"EHH?" beamed Akaya, "Are you dating Misao?"

Misao hit Akaya on the head.

"Marui, I never knew you were dating someone," stated Jakal.

Kiri glared at Misao who just smiled back. _'She and Niou must have planned this together'_

Marui went closer to Kiri and gave her a quick peck on her lips.

"NANI?!" everyone shouted, except for Yukimura, Misao and Niou who already knew. Sanada didn't know, but he didn't shout, instead his eyes widened slightly and his jaw dropped.

"Mi-chan! How dare you tell everyone!" she yelled.

Misao ignored her and carried on laughing, but her eyes popped out when Kiri threw the handcuff key into the pool. Niou had the same expression on his face as Misao when the key dropped into the water.

"!!"

* * *

A/N: Please review and tell me what you thought! Sorry once again, I won't be updating soon because I have exams coming up, but I'll try my best to update during that time.


	12. All Wet!

Hi, here's the next chapter!! Hope you enjoy reading!! Thanks goes to the people who reviewed.

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'_**Flashbacks'**_

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PoT

* * *

Chapter 12

"Why did you throw it out?" Misao was panicking.

"Shit, we won't be able to find it in the dark," cursed Niou.

Kiri just ignored the two and laughed playfully. "You guys are gonna stay like that for a while if you two don't find the keys," she warned them.

Misao calmed down a bit from her panic state, "Niou, WHY the hell do YOU have a POOL in _your _HOUSE?!"

Everyone sweat dropped in at Misao's not calm self.

"Err... I don't ...know?"

"Damn, I guess we have to find it!" she said unhappily.

"Wait Mi-chan, the water is very cold at night, you won't be able to find it," said Yukimura.

"I don't care!" Misao said stubbornly.

She took off towards the pool, forgetting that she was still chained together with the silver haired boy. Niou stood still and didn't let Misao drag her.

"Mi-chan calm down, rushing in like that won't do any good," Niou told her.

"...but... "

Niou sighed and asked Yaguu to grab the torch that was in his bedroom because he couldn't.

"Let's look for it together," Niou said with a grin on his face.

"Stop saying stuff like that... it's suspicious, especially when a trickster is being cooperative," Misao said slowly.

Niou just smirked and stared at the black haired girl. Everyone chuckled at their behaviour.

~-~-~-~-~

Everyone went out into the garden, but all of them refused to go in the pool during a near winter evening. So in the end, Niou and Misao went in together. Misao let Yukimura take care of her glasses as they went under water. Marui helped hold the torch. Of course, they had a tough time finding it; they kept going in opposite directions.

Misao felt cold and she couldn't see well because she was short sighted.

Niou also felt cold, it was not an easy job to look for a small item like a key at night and in the water.

After searching for half an hour, they eventually gave up.

When Niou and Misao came out of the pool, they were shivering cold. Misao wanted to hurry and get inside the house, but she forgot that Niou was still chained to her. So Misao ended up tripping, dragging Niou along with her. Misao felt pain as she contacted the ground, but then she felt something heavy landed on her. She opened her eyes and she blushed when she saw the silver haired boy in front of her.

Niou felt that the ground was not hard at all when he felt it. When he opened his eyes he blinked when he saw the raven haired girl in front of him. Niou knew he was on top of Misao, but he made no effort to move. His eyes met the emerald coloured eyes. He stared at her face, wet trails of water ran to her side, her hair was wet and some strands clung onto her face. Her cheeks were tinted with a blush and well... he thought she looked cute.

When Misao realised that Niou was not planning to move, her blush deepened and she got nervous. She felt his hot breath blow on her face and she diverted her eyes away from him.

Niou felt the urge to kiss those clammy lips that were beneath her, but someone interrupted them.

They quickly tried to get up, but it was a mission to, with someone being handcuffed to them.

After they made their way into the house, Misao pulled Niou along until she reached her tennis bag where she had a set of dry clothes.

She suggested that they should get changed, but everyone else just stared at her strangely.

"Ano... Mi-chan," Kiri called, "How are you going to change?"

Misao then dazed off for a moment until the meaning clicked to her.

"I won't look, I promise," said Niou, "unless you want me to," he added sneakily.

Misao rolled her eyes, "Whatever!"

~-~-~-~-~

Misao got changed first and she made Niou face the opposite direction. Then Niou changed afterwards with Misao looking in the other direction. There was an awkward silence between the two. The only sound came from the clanging of the arm lengthed chain between the two handcuffs.

Misao stared at the ground silently. For some reason, she felt unhappy and tired. Her eyelids felt heavy and her legs felt drained, she knew that she was definitely getting a cold.

After Niou finished changing, he turned around and saw that the girl in front of her was breathing heavily. He quickly reached his arms out to catch her when she looked like she was about to collapse.

"Oi," he yelled.

Misao panted lightly and her cheeks became flushed from the heat.

Niou quickly placed a hand on her forehead and felt for her temperature.

~-~-~-~-~

Everyone who was downstairs heard a noise and quickly hurried up the stairs. "What happened," they asked.

"She has a high temperature," stated Niou.

Everyone looked worried as Niou placed her on his bed and sat beside her because he was still handcuffed to her.

"I'll go get some cold water," announced Kiri, "Where are the towels?" she asked Niou.

"You can find some in the cupboard over there."

Kiri wet the cloth and squeezed out the water before she placed it on Misao's forehead.

Niou looked at the girl with a worried expression. Everyone in the room looked at Niou in a surprising way.

'_Who knew Niou could make such a caring and soft expression'_ they all thought to themselves.

It was getting late and so everyone had to go home despite the problem of Misao. The only ones who stayed behind were Yukimura and Kiri.

"It's my fault that she got sick," Kiri said sadly.

Yukimura knew that Kiri really felt bad so he decided to not say anything.

"Buchou, can you please call Misao's parents and tell them that she's staying over," asked Niou.

After staying for a long time, Kiri had to go home. "Don't you dare do anything to her!" she warned.

"I won't... not when she's like this," he said.

Kiri took one last glance at them before leaving. _'My prank went too far, I should go find that key'_

Yukimura left at around eleven; when Niou's parents came back.

Niou's mom took care of Misao very carefully.

'_You've grown up, Masaharu.'_ She thought to herself as she looked at Niou's sleeping figure, sitting on the floor while he used his arms as a pillow which his head rested on, over the bed.

After Niou's mom left the room, he awoke from the clicking sound from the door. He looked tenderly at the sleeping girl. He used his other hand and gently brushed a strand of hair out of her face and kissed her cheek lightly.

'_Damn... I'm really falling for her'_

* * *

A/N: How was it? Hahaha... I'm actually suppose to be studying right now. Please Review!! Just a few more chapters and it's going to end.


	13. Heart of Ice

A/N: Sorry for not updating for such a long time. The thing is I had exams, after that, I was busy with moving. And then I didn't have access to internet for a while. I'm really stressed right now; I'm just so busy. Then I find out that my brother reformatted my pc so I lost all my fanfics that I was busy with, I had a backup copy, but it's on my flash disk which I lent to someone and I haven't gotten it back yet. I felt bad about this so I decided to retype this chapter, it might be horrible. I will try to repost this chapter when I get my backup copy back. Hopefully she didn't delete it…

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'**Flashbacks'**

Disclaimer: I do not own PoT

* * *

Chapter 13

Misao woke up, only to find total darkness. Although she did not have her glasses on, she could tell that it was not her room. She decided to rely on her sense of touch until she could find the light switch. Just as she was about to slide her legs of the bed, she noticed something preventing her from doing so.

I stared at the object that was draped on top of the azure sheets. I figured that if I stare long enough, I would be able to see what it was. The dim moonlight shone through the small gap in between the drawn curtains. The glint enabled me to see what this 'object' was.

How could I not notice? His silver hair stood out and shone in the light. His lips were slightly parted, emitting light snores. His sleeping face was serene, yet it felt kind of strange. His arms were crossed on top of the bed, his face resting on the arms as support

Misao gazed at Niou's sleeping figure for a while and smiled. "Why?" she asked aloud.

She felt her cold hand touch his cheek.

"Even though Sei-chan warned me," she started, "He told me that you were a playboy, he said I would just get dumped once you got tired of me. At that time, I didn't understand what he meant by that… After all, I don't believe in love at first sight so it was kinda strange how he knew I would fall for you."

"When I first met you, I thought that your fangirls were really dumb for being so excessive as to pick on me just from sitting near you in class," she smiled ruefully, "Now that I think back, I realized how dumb I was."

She looked up at the ceiling and then back down at his face again.

"Even though I knew that this was so not Cinderella and her prince charming, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty nor was it Juliet and her Romeo," she then realized something. "Even thought Romeo and Juliet did not have such a happy ending," she added as an afterthought.

She pulled her arm away from the sleeping boy.

"How ironic… I used to be called the Ice Princess because I never let my emotions show, but whenever I'm around you everything gets messed up. Before I knew it, it was already too late; I had already fallen in love with you."

She tousled the 'Trickster's' silver hair lightly and she pushed him slightly to the side so that she could get out of bed.

As soon as she stood up, she felt a jolt of pain in her head. Her headache caused her to lose her stability. She mustered all her strength just to stand properly; she just couldn't find the energy to walk.

Just when she was about to collapse again, a strong pair of arms appeared from behind and wrapped around her. His gentle yet firm grip tightened around her.

Niou pulled her body closer to his own and spoke. "You seriously love falling, you know?"

"Niou?" she spoke softly.

"…"

Not hearing a reply, Misao tried to turn around, but was unable to because of his strong grip.

Niou let go of Misao and stepped away from her.

Realization finally struck her. _'Did he just hear everything I said?'_ she panicked, _'What should I do, what if he rejects me?'_

She didn't want to turn around; she didn't want to face him after saying all those things. A blush crept its way to her pale cheeks.

Niou noticed the fact that Misao suddenly became quiet and he smirked. His hands reached for the pair of glasses on the desk beside the table.

"I wonder what this is, puri~" he asked playfully.

Misao turned around to look at what the boy was holding.

She couldn't really see well because it was dark and also because she was not wearing her glasses.

He walked closer to her. Misao's eyes widened when she recognized what it was. She immediately reached out for the pair of spectacles in his hand.

Niou pulled his hand away from her so that she couldn't reach it.

Judging by the way and how normally Niou acted, Misao concluded that he probably never heard her thoughts earlier on or if he did, he pretended he didn't.

Misao's heart ached as she thought of the second possibility, but she tried to hide it.

However it never escaped Niou's sharp eyes.

"I'm going to kill you for this," she threatened.

"No you won't," he responded defiantly.

"I swear I wil-" she got cut off.

He grabbed her wrist which was up in the air. "You won't, because you love me," he said affectionately.

Misao felt the blood rise to her cheeks once again. _'So he did hear me!'_

He leaned closer to the raven haired girl and kissed her gently. Misao's eyes widened in shock as Niou pulled back and looked at her sincerely, "I love you too."

Misao doubted him, until she saw the look in his eyes. Those eyes were enough to make her **Icy heart** melt.

_Heart of Ice _

_fin._

* * *

A/N: Finally finished, haha! Thanks to everyone who read this story, I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
